DS, in BB&N just got accepted for Boston Latin. I’m really struggling with the decision. On the one hand, we love BB&N (he just started here in 6th grade) and it’s a great fit for him. I don’t want to put him in an environment that is less enriching. On the other hand, the financial differences are huge. Am really looking for some input re Boston Latin. DS is academically top tier and very motivated
I can’t imagine anybody claiming that Boston Latin is “less enriching.” In my mind, and I think BBN is a great school, I can’t justify spending $175K over 4 years if I had Boston Latin as an alternative.
According to the wiki of BLS:
"Boston Latin has a history of pursuing the same standards as elite New England prep schools while adopting the egalitarian attitude of a public school. Academically, the school regularly outperforms public schools in rich Boston suburbs, "
So I agree with @skieurope. There’s no reason to believe it’s “less enriching”,. But if you say it’s likely “less nurturing” I’d agree as BLS is a magnet school with almost 2400 stduents. Very different choices indeed. I guess the money you’d be paying would not be for academic enrichment but for other aspects of school life.
Thank you for your responses! we’re new to the area and most of what I’ve heard about Bostin Latin is that it was great a decade ago and before but that the standards have really declined. And of course it’s all over the news in a negative way. So I’m looking for input into how the school is now hopefully from some people who have been there
The 175k and what you would spend it for is relative. We live in a condominium so that our kids can go to a good school. It’s a very nice condo, but it’s a condo, and we compromise on yard space etc etc to enable our son to get the best education. I’m immigrant Chinese so, for what it’s worth, this is what we’ve been brought up with, that kids education is worth it. But it would be nice to have that money saved for their college instead
May I ask, panpacific, what are the ‘other aspects of school life’ that you refer to? Not having been brought up here, it is sometimes hard for me to figure out things like this relative to American schools…what exactly are these?
@op: Class size, quality of teacher/student interactions, opportunities for sports teams and other EC, leadership opportunities, relative ease to have a better clad ranking, better facilities (library, gym,…), close-knot community…
B, B & N is quite a wonderful school. Seems a shame to switch again if you don’t have to.
Panpacific, thank you! Center, that’s how I feel. However, we also have to plan long term and we’re mid income professionals in an expensive town so we have to plan long term for college etc as well
But BB&N has been great, we moved there when we moved in town last year and we’ve loved it so far. There is also the social aspect of changing but since the friends are still new it shouldn’t be too bad
2 words – Boston Latin!
If you think about how much money you could save by going to Boston Latin, you can consider spending some of it on extracurriculars or travel, if BLS doesn’t meet all your child’s needs in that department, and have lots left over for college. The differences between public and private, even if the academic standards and coursework and teacher quality is the same in this case of the top public school in Boston, are still there in terms of class size and campus facilities. BB&N is amazing in that way. Have you been able to visit BLS or talk to current students? Is it a really long commute for your child? Is your child good under academic pressure? Might be more of it at BLS but you would have to try to dig in and find out.
We did speak to a couple of current students at BLS but these were students who were struggling and so not the best examples. We have a campus visit scheduled for next week. Our son does well under pressure, so that’s not a huge concern at our end. Hopefully we will learn more from the campus visit. I wish I could find some great BLS students for him to speak to!!
Is it possible that your child could shadow a student and spend a whole day or two in BLS? Take the classes, play the sports he’s into, attend some EC activities and see how he feels. You mentioned that BLS is not doing as well in recent years. Any specifics? Would that be something you could verify from school visits and talking to people who are close to the school?
There has been a lot of coverage in the Boston Globe about racism at the school, and some pretty disturbing lack of follow through by administrators on clear examples of racist comments to African Americans. Some brave students brought it to public attention this year. When stuff is in the news, it is hard to figure out how to apply to one’s personal situation–for instance I struggled with the St. George’s news this fall/winter (my daughter got waitlisted so I didn’t have to make a decision, but I was troubled by the way it seemed the current administration handled the response to students who recently came to them about long-ago events).
Don’t know any details about BLS’ racial tension, but just as a general note, campuses across the nation are caught up in a movement of that nature. It’s worth noting but don’t think it’s unique to one school.
What does your son think?
At $175k – in my house, my child has limited input 
I think if I had another good alternative, I’d have a hard time choosing to send my kid to a school where the racial tensions are significant enough that the school is under investigation by the US Attorney’s office.
I agree @mass2020mom regarding St. George’s and although DD got in, she won’t be going there. I think its all in how the administration deals with issues, whether they are on their watch or not. I don’t follow BLS (we are an hour away) but I was disappointed in how the current administration at St. George’s has dealt with their issue. Especially compared with Deerfield where the head of school is seemingly very proactive. OP should definitely ask those hard questions about BLS about how they dealt with issues there. Off to go check out the Globe on that issue…
The current US attorney’s office makes hay out f many things racial and otherwise that don’t have any merit. Am not sure their nosing into Boston Latin is really that meaningful.
I think this is very much an area where perception is reality. If students feel that there have been racial incidents that have not been appropriately addressed by the school’s administration, which are being reported widely in the local media, and which have prompted an investigation by the USAO, this is not an issue which is just going to fade away quietly. Even if @Center is right about the USAO making hay out of things that don’t have merit (which I do not actually agree with), it’s still going to result in considerable angst and disruption at the school, for students, faculty, and administration. And when you add in the rapidly changing demographics at Boston Latin (the black student population having declined from over 20% to under 10%), I have a hard time seeing how the racial tensions at the school get resolved easily, or at all.